Sykes (dog)

Sykes

Sykes, appearing at Discover Dogs in 2010
Species	Dog
Breed	Terrier
Sex	Male
Nation from	United Kingdom
Occupation	Dog actor
Years active	2004-15
Owner	Gill Raddings

Sykes is a dog actor from Clifton, Oxfordshire, England. He is best known in the UK for his appearance as Harvey in Thinkbox's television commercial and, under his real name, in Midsomer Murders (Series fourteen to eighteen, inclusive). He has also appeared in several Hollywood blockbusters. Originally found as a stray in 2004, his owner is animal trainer and stunt dog specialist Gill Raddings. Since January 2016 Sykes has been in semi-retirement with him no longer being displayed as available for hire on Gill Raddings' agency website; however, if a producer from a previous role of his needs Sykes they are able to use him.

Sykes was found roaming as a stray in 2004, at an estimated age of seven months. He was rehomed with Gill Raddings, a stunt dog specialist in Clifton, Oxfordshire, after some friends of hers found the dog while out walking dogs of their own. The police were going to place him in kennels, so Raddings took in the stray. Raddings runs a company called Action Stunt Dogs and Animals, and other dogs living at her home with Sykes include Kyte, the Belgian Shepherd who portrayed Wellard in EastEnders. Although a cross-breed, his owner believes that there may be some Parson Russell Terrier stock in him due to his long legs.

They say you should never work with animals or children but, as far as I’m concerned, it’s rubbish because Sykes – as I’ve come to know him – was the consummate professional. It was a joy to work with him.

Following his appearance in Thinkbox's award winning advert "Every Home Needs a Harvey", he has become better known to the public as his character in the advert, "Harvey". In the advert he gets up to several different antics in order to impress prospective adoptors in an animal shelter including ironing, cooking and driving children to school. By the end of 2010, the advert had been viewed on YouTube more than a million times, and had over 11,600 followers on Facebook. The advert was named "Advert of the Year" by ITV for 2010.